What's wrong? What's under here? Can I unplug for a second, Peter? Can I just unplug for a sec? How's everybody on the scene? Is there anybody playing? First place. Okay. Yeah. I don't know. Okay. No. No. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. I love you. You know, I'll be free. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Good morning church. Let's get started this morning. Good morning church. Let's get started. Let's open up to Psalm 47 this morning for a call to worship. In my ESV Bible, Psalm 47 is titled, God is King over all the earth. What a great thing to think about. for a call to worship before we get into our church service this morning. Let's take a second and just calm ourselves and let's focus on these wonderful truths from God as we get started this morning. Clap your hands, all peoples. Shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the Lord, the most high, is to be feared. a great king over all the earth. He subdued peoples under us and nations under our feet. He chose our heritage for us, the pride of Jacob whom he loves. God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet. Sing praises to God, sing praises. Sing praises to our king, sing praises. God is the king of all the earth. Sing praises with a song. God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne. The princes of the peoples gather as the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God. He is highly exalted. Dear God, we are blessed and honored to be able to come together this morning. God, we thank you for the book of Psalms. We thank you for Psalm 47. God, for the reminder it is to us that you are on your throne. God, you are not a small king, but God, you are the sovereign king of the universe. Everyone will be subdued by you, God. Everyone will bow the knee to you. And I just thank you for the wonderful reminder that that is. God, in this day and age, we so easily fall into the trap thinking that we're autonomous, that we can call the shots. God, I pray that not only would this be a reminder to us, but that God, it would be a wonderful truth and a wonderful promise, that God, this is why we can put our trust in you. God, our trust is not in ourselves, our trust is not from anything that this world has to offer, that God, we can take we can find much peace in these truths. And as we gather together this morning, God, I just pray that you would bless our service, that God, you would take great joy and delight in both praising you this morning and lifting you up because you are our King. And we find great delight in that. Amen. So if you're able to stand with us, this song might actually induce you to clap your hands, maybe not. Whether we clap our hands a lot in this life, in the age to come, in the new heavens and the earth, we won't be so worried about what other people think, about excessive hand clapping. But this will hopefully prime us to be those who say, praise the Lord, He has saved us. And he is seated on his thrones. And actually, a great testimony to the world is our great joy we have in Christ, irrespective of what is all around us. There's a lot of curmudgeons in the world. And we are to be different. We are to be holy. And off our monocles and suits so much, as a great indomitable joy in Christ, that even if we were to die, it would be gain. So, this is Come, People of the Risen King. Our people love the praise of King, we lie to break their praise. Come all, let's hear your heart to sing, the morning star of praise. In the shadows of the earth, we will lend our eyes to Him. For as many arms of mercy reach to gather children in, And every tongue rejoice, my God, my voice, O Church of Christ, we praise thee. Oh, it's morning time and a sleepy, good night. Come close and tell the battle's won and the struggle in the fight. ♪ God will never change and his mercy never ceases ♪ ♪ But follow us through all our ways ♪ ♪ In the circle of peace ♪ ♪ Rejoice, rejoice ♪ ♪ Let every tongue rejoice ♪ ♪ One heart, one voice ♪ Church The end of the day. The coast is full of more emptiness than the riches of his grace. The word of the world, his people sing, sure and strong we hear them call. We can trust you every hour God is calling on Rejoice! Rejoice! Let every child rejoice One heart, one voice, no church of vice Next one is, Nathan and Hannah led it last week. May the peoples praise you. ♪ That follow the sound of darkness ♪ ♪ Into the pure glorious light ♪ ♪ And we may sing the wonders of the risen Christ ♪ ♪ In our very breath we tell the truth ♪ ♪ From heav'n to earth with endless light ♪ ♪ May the peoples praise you and the nations be glad ♪ ♪ All your blessings come and we may praise ♪ ♪ May praise the name of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Earth is yours and all with him ♪ ♪ Each harvest is your own ♪ ♪ And from your hand we give to you ♪ ♪ To make Christ whole ♪ ♪ May a seed of mercy grow in us ♪ ♪ For those who have not heard ♪ ♪ May songs of praise fill life ♪ Let the peoples praise you. Let the nations be glad. All your blessings come that we may praise you. It's our holy privilege to declare your praises and your names to every nation, tribe, and country. ♪ May the people praise you ♪ ♪ Let the nations be glad ♪ ♪ All your blessings now that we may praise you ♪ ♪ We praise the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Holy, holy is the Lord Almighty ♪ is the Lamb who was slain. Holy, holy is the Lord Almighty. All creation Praise your glorious name. People, praise you. Let the nations be glad. All the earth and mountains that we may praise, may praise the name of Jesus. Amen. Please be seated. Good morning again and welcome. Just a couple of announcements this morning. Just a reminder that the website is up and running and it has had a lot of updates and will be continually updated over the next little while. So if you're looking for any information on the church in regards to the church, just go to our church website and it will certainly help you there as well. The calendar's in there as well, so you can keep events, everything that's happening within the church, that should be updated as well. So, Lord's Table next Sunday, and if you would like to partake, then please come see. If you haven't already done so, please come talk to one of us elders before next week, and we would just like to have you share with us your testimony and how Christ has worked in your life as well. Grace groups are beginning again and so if you're interested in joining one or would love to join one then just please see either Charles or Cliff here in the back. Okay yeah and so you just talk to either one of them and they will line you up as well. If anybody's interested in giving, there is a box in the foyer in the back and you can just put it in on your way in or out, however you do that. Or if you want to set up online giving, whatever you want to do, Cheryl's there to help you as well in the back. So let's turn our focus now to our consecutive reading as we continue to read through the New Testament, we find ourselves in Matthew chapter 6 this morning. Matthew chapter 6. For those of you who haven't yet had a chance to register your children for Sunday school, there is a table in the foyer there, a little table with the registration forms. So if you're planning to bring your kids to Sunday school, or maybe you haven't already, But if you can attest to Philip's registration form, please do so. Thank you. Thanks, Samuel. Matthew chapter 6. Beginning in verse 1. Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them. For then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, and your father, who sees in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not heap upon empty phrases as the Gentiles do. for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need before you ask him. Pray then like this, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces, that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, and that your fasting may not be seen by others, but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where their thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life. What you will eat or what you will drink nor about your body, what you will put on? Is not life more than food, the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow, they neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you? O you of little faith, therefore do not be anxious, saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore be not anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. As we look at this whole chapter, again we see that actually accomplishing any of these things is an impossibility without first coming to know who Jesus Christ is and having salvation in Jesus Christ. Finding forgiveness of your sins through the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross at Calvary. Without knowing Christ in a very personal and intimate way, you can't not pray the Lord's Prayer. It has no meaning to you. You cannot fast properly, because it will be useless. Your reasons for fasting will be insufficient. You cannot lay up treasures in heaven, because you know not what heaven is about. will be anxious because you have nobody to trust in. You cannot lean upon Christ. So in order to do this, you must know Christ as your personal Savior. All these commands we do willingly if we know Jesus Christ. We do them out of a heart of love for all that God has done for us. So we just need to remember, as you read the Bible, The one most needful thing that the Bible teaches is faith in Jesus Christ, in Him alone, and in nothing else. So, let's just go to prayer, and there's various things we're going to pray for this morning, but let's just bow our heads in prayer as well this morning. Father, as we come to You this morning, just want to open up our hearts that are full of thankfulness and joy for the fact that father that you have opened up our hearts and you have shown us jesus christ father you have granted us that forgiveness of sins that grants us the ability lord to enter into your throne room even now and just come with boldness but lord with faith, believing that you'd love to hear our prayers. And do you love to come and to hear us and to be with us and to, you love to hear your church just lift up its voice in one accord and just praise you. And Father, it's a blessing to be part of this church. And I pray for everyone here who's not part of this church. Father, that they would desire to join a strong biblical church that would just point them to Christ and show them everything that you have granted us in Christ, Lord. The hope and the faith and the strength that you've given us, Father, and the inheritance that you have provided for us in the future, Lord, and the power and the ability, Lord, just to walk with you and trust in you and know that you are there to guide us each and every day and that you will deliver us from all evil. And Father, we live in a world that is so mixed up and tossed around. They have nothing to lean upon. They have no one to trust in. And therefore, Father, this world is just full of anxiety, fears, trembling. And how easy it is for us to get caught up in that as well. And so I plead with you, Lord, that you would help us as individuals, as children that you have drawn to yourself, that you would grant us the privilege, Lord, of just remembering even Psalm 46. And help us, Father, just to sit back and to be still and to know that you are God and that you're there for your children. You're always there. Help us, Father, put aside all those distractions that would keep us from thinking on You, to trusting in You, to believing in You, and finding our rest and our hope in You as well. Father, just come and minister to us. And I pray you do the same for all the ministries that we have today in our list as well, for the grace groups, the Lethbridge Pregnancy Care Centre, for the leaders, for the persecuted church. Father, give them that ability as well, just to know your presence with them, especially for the persecuted church. Father, send your spirit amongst those people. grant them, especially in Afghanistan, we think of Father, but just open up your arms and carry them through this day and give them, Lord, that strength and the peace that they need, Lord, just to face another hour. And we pray that you would just help us as a church in every area, every ministry, to focus on you and you alone and to teach and to preach Christ every time we have an opportunity as well. And for the Lakewood Lethbridge Pregnancy Care Center, help them, Father, to continue to minister to the women and the men that come in there as well. And help them, Lord, as they continue to talk to these women, to show them that there is forgiveness, even for the greatest of sins that they have ever committed. Strengthen them, I pray, and help them. to pray for even the ministries of this morning, Lord, the preaching that will take place. And I just ask, Lord, that you would just be with our brother as he opens up your word, that you would just quiet his heart and cause him to be still and just know that you are God as well, and that he would stand up here, Lord, and just trust in you to give him the words to speak and the ability to speak it in a way that would just penetrate our hearts. And Father, You would send the Spirit into this place this morning in a way that would just, again, take away all the distractions that we have, but help us as well, just to be able to listen to Your Word and have it speak directly to each and every one of us, Lord. Not to our neighbor, but to us as individual children of Your Kingdom as well. Bless and help us, I pray. Guide and keep us now, I ask, Lord. Just be with us, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Once again, if you're able, stand. Join us as we sing. And if it's possible, with all intention, bring joy, even in the midst of Great trials, great pain. And this is a beautiful handwritten many, many, many years ago. And it's very encouraging, at least to me. And if you're not familiar with it, hopefully you will familiarize yourself with it. These are glorious truths that are spoken in this song. This is still a good one too. ♪ To our favored Lord and Lord ♪ ♪ And there is faithfulness his hope ♪ ♪ And there is faithfulness his hope ♪ ♪ Within the night I know your peace the breath of God restores ♪ ♪ To His morning mercy flow ♪ ♪ As treasures of the darkness grow ♪ ♪ As treasures of the darkness grow ♪ ♪ I turn to wisdom not my own, nor very God's own ♪ You have known my confidence will rest in you. For love and virtue we are you. I see the triumph of the cross. Oh, in its shadow I shall rise. Now we can do the other one. have taken all to Thee and follow Thee. Blessed to this wise Lord's taking, how long hence my all shall be. Perish every fond ambition, ♪ All I sought or hoped for, no ♪ ♪ Yet how rich is my condition ♪ ♪ Lord, am I still my own? ♪ ♪ Yet the world is wise and clear ♪ ♪ They have left my Savior too ♪ ♪ Filled with hearts and looks deceiving me ♪ ♪ Thou art God, I am untrue ♪ ♪ Oh, I'll have Thy smile upon me ♪ ♪ God of wisdom ♪ Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's ♪ May trouble and distress be ♪ ♪ Will not drive me to thy breast ♪ ♪ Life with trials hard may press me ♪ ♪ And will bring me sweet relief ♪ Oh, this loving grief do I weep, while our love is left to bleed. Oh, were not in joy too charming, were that joy not this? When earthly fame and treasure, a disaster, storm and pain, in Thy service made its pleasure. I have called Thee as a Father. I have taken my part on Thee. Storms may howl and clouds may gather. All must work for good. I know Thine holds salvation. Why do I sin and fear and care? Joy divine in every station. Something's built in me. The Spirit dwells within me. Think, my Father, smiles are thine. Think that Jesus guides you in thee. Child of God. Sing on from grace to glory, Our God, favor and King by prayer. Let all eternal days be for Thee, God so kind shall guide us where. Oh say does that star spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Please be seated. Aren't those great lyrics? It's everything in perspective. For we will need that. Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3. We're almost done the chapter. Getting there. And when you found it, please stand as we read God's sacred word together. First Peter chapter three, verses 13 to 17. First Peter three, 13 to 17. Hear then the word of God. And who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be shaken. But in your hearts, sanctify Christ as Lord. Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect. having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. Well, thanks be to God for his word. Let's pray. Father, we are so thankful that you have displayed your goodness to us in the person and work of your son. We're so grateful that while we were helpless, while we were enemies, Christ came to save the ungodly, that the physician came not for those who are well, but for those who are sick. And so Father, I pray this morning and for the duration of our pilgrimage here, on earth that we would be laying in our minds glorious truths about your love for us and your sovereign protection over us. May we never forget your great love for us in Christ. And even as we just sang, all must work for good to me. And Father, as we think through trials, would we always interpret them through the lens of your gospel purposes for us, for the local church, and for your world. And so, Father, I pray for a posture of humility that we, with childlike faith, would trust you through the tears and in the uncertainties, as Marvin read in Matthew 6, so that we would remember the birds. We'd look to the lilies. And if you care for those that are here today and gone tomorrow, how much more for your elect. So strengthen our faith. May it abound in a indomitable hope that overcomes the world. That they might actually take notice that your people live differently. Not because they are inherently better, because we have a hope and an inheritance laid up for us in heaven, and we are eagerly awaiting the return of our Savior. Father, if there are any unsaved in our midst this morning, as we saw on Sunday school, oh, that the irresistible gospel net would be thrown out of the boat, and as it is dragged in, that your elect would be found in there. And so, Father, we pray that there would be ears granted to hear and eyes enabled to see, hearts to understand, and a will to believe. This must come from you, and we ask that you would grant it according to your good pleasure. I pray also, Father, for those who are hurting, who are suffering, who are going through difficult times and trials, Would they see in this text, Father, that you have not left them to themselves, that you are not indifferent, and even as we saw last week, that your eyes are to and on the righteous, especially the humble ones who are beaten down and hurting. Help them to remember your ears are towards their Christ. and that if they are in Christ, your smile is upon them. Would you help them and help us as a church to suffer well together? Would you give us gospel encouragement in our own hearts that we might speak it with our lips to those who desperately need it? In all of this, Father, I think of what Charles said in Sunday school. May our great desire be ultimately to praise the King, to praise Jesus, to proclaim your excellencies, Triune God, that you have called us out of darkness and into your marvelous light. We taste it, but in part now, help us to yearn and to long and even groan when we will revel in it, in all of its fullness, in all of your fullness. And so Father, we pray, would you bless us this morning as you define blessing? And would you make us a blessing to go out into this sin-cursed world that we might be a blessing to them as well, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. Well, one of the great joys of having a wife who homeschools her kids is I get to sort of peek in now and then to see what the kids are learning. And one of my favorite exercises is for the younger ones as they're learning vocabulary. They will have a list of words, and then over top of it, a list of definitions. And what they're supposed to do is either draw a line or circle, circle with a line. And so something like chocolate, and then they would have like sweet, unhealthy, and all those things. And you would have to choose which best defines or matches it. Well, we saw last week that Peter said that we were called to be blessed. And so, if my children, or if I was perhaps doing a little exercise and there was the word blessing, and then beside it we had words like material wealth, happiness, popularity, suffering, there would be a hard line for me to link suffering with blessing or persecution with blessing. But that's what Peter does this morning. Imagine, right, Jesus is homeschooling him. Peter, blessing, join it up to this one. Suffering. Do you notice the link? Most commentators say that this begins a new section. However, verse 13 begins with a conjunction. And I'm also thankful that my wife homeschools, because I can listen in and also learn grammar as she's teaching the kids, so that I can pretend to know what I'm talking about when I'm exegeting a text. And, or the SV translates now, but and is a better conjunction, because it's continuing Peter's train of thought. He's going on to say that, that you're blessed and God is looking upon you. And as Thomas Schreiner would say, you could almost translate this kai, this and, as therefore. Therefore, who is there to harm you if you become a zealot for the good? That's a literal translation. If God is for you, if God seeks to bless you, and all he wants to do is bless you, who can harm you? And this is where you actually have to bend your mind. There's a tension that doesn't seem to match. But Peter's saying this to these persecuted, exiled elect ones. You can go all the way back to our first sermon, and Peter says to the elect exiles, and there's almost a cognitive dissonance. We're the elect, and we're exiles? We're the off-scouring, we're the rejected, and yet we're the elect? And Peter's saying, yes, you can hold those in tension. And you can even say that the elect exiles are the blessed ones, even and especially if and when they endure suffering, not for doing evil, but for doing good, doing the good, which always needs to be translated with an open Bible. And so now we move from the great encouragement of verses eight to 12 to the practical application. We're blessed, what about the suffering business, Peter? And here comes Pastor Peter. Do you remember when Jesus spoke to him in the Gospel of Luke and he says, Peter, Satan desires to sift you. But after you have repented, go and strengthen your brothers. And so here's Pastor Peter. As we're gonna see in chapter five, he's a shepherd, he's a pastor. And he wants to come alongside these suffering saints who are like, wait, if I'm suffering, is God angry with me? No. Actually, sometimes suffering in this world for the sake of Christ is a great reminder that you belong to Him. If they've done this to your master and to your teacher, says Jesus in John 15, preparing them for His departure, they will also do it to you. Peter's gonna say later, do not be surprised as though something strange were happening. Charles preached it in chapter two. For to this you were called, to follow in the steps of Christ. And all he ever did was the good. And yet look at what happened to him. However, God in his perfect wisdom, uses the evil of this world and the suffering of his people, his elect, to bring about great good in their life and to further his mission to the ends of the earth. Remember chapter two, Peter says we are to live in such a way so that some will be drawn in, right? Verse 12, that on the day of visitation, there will be those who have been brought to Christ. through your witness. And often the greatest witness for Christ and our hope in Him is in the midst of suffering. It's easy to sing when it's sunny outside. It takes a work of grace to sing when it's raining. Or your miserable minds are like me and I love rain. So Peter's reminding us to live rightly in this world. And as we live rightly in this world, even in the midst and face of suffering, it will provide for us an opportunity to share with others our hope. So let's get into it. I have two A's. And the first is simply assurance. That's the first two verses. And then the next section is admonition. So Peter wants to give some assurance to these suffering Christians. And the assurance is simply this. I learned this as a new Christian, and I think if I can learn it, you can learn it. Two things got me through a lot of uncertainties and trials. God is good, and God is sovereign. Never separate those. And you have to understand that this is in the light of Christ. If you're in Christ, You know that God is only good. And you know that God is totally sovereign. If you get those out of balance, you'll be like a plane that has imbalanced wings, and it might begin to falter and crash. But the assurance is simply this, that God is sovereign even over your suffering, but he's good in it, and he has a purpose for it. Go back to chapter one. In this you lament. No, no, no, in this you rejoice. Over what? In your trials, if necessary. And Peter's saying they are necessary because they wean us from the world. They show that we are a people set apart from the world and a people set apart for Christ. a peculiar people. We are a royal priesthood, a chosen race, a holy nation, a people for Christ's own possession, and we show that, not through prosperity gospel assertions, but saying that we have everything we need in Christ, and that is enough. Take it all, for to me, to live is wealth. No, no, no. For to me, to live is health. No, all those go! For to me, to live is Christ. And even if you take my life, says Paul in Philippians 1, that is great gain. For to be absent from the body is to be present from the Lord. And I would encourage you to read 2 Corinthians 4 and 5 and to see that link. So here's the assurance. Who is there to harm you if you become a zealot? for what is good. Now there's two ways you can take this and I'm going to explain both of them because I think they're both applicable depending upon the context in which the church finds herself. So one line of commentators would say that if you do good, if you're zealous for good, no one's going to harm you. And there's something true about that when a culture and a government are existing and living as God ordained them to be. Do you remember in chapter two? God has ordained these authorities to praise those who do good and to punish those who do evil. And so in a society, even in a government that is not regenerate or Christian, insofar as they praise what is good and punish what is bad, if you do good then, Don't worry about it. However, that's not always true. Peter is writing most likely just before the great persecution of Nero in 8064. Remember when the city of Rome was set on fire? And he blamed the Christians and there was then national mandated persecution. So before Nero starts persecuting, the Christians can generally do good and not have to worry about being killed or tortured. or suffering to a great extent. There is a general principle. Don't be a fool and you won't suffer. And that's true in contexts where the governments are doing or exercising their stewardship as deacons the way they should. However, we're starting to see the very opposite now. And this is what I think Peter is getting at for us. What happens when you live in a society where the good is now punished and the evil is rewarded. Or in the words of Isaiah chapter 5, which is only two chapters before which Peter is drawing from this morning, he says that there's a nation and a culture that begins to call light darkness and darkness light, and evil good and good evil, and bitter sweet and sweet bitter. They reverse what happens when God gives a people and a culture and a society up to a reprobate mind that doesn't work rightly, who begin to punish the good. This is how I want you to think. You're gonna think I'm sneaking some of our decisions in. Is it good to gather? Is it good to gather? Is it good to sing together? Is it good to take the Lord's table? Is it good to tell others that sin is sin and that hell is hot and that eternity is forever? Is that good? Is it good to say that homosexual union is an abomination? It is because you're hoping to convict those people that they might run to Christ. And we are going to be punished, not just for preaching the gospel, we are going to be punished for the good. And this is where this text will begin to become sweeter to us. Who harmed you? In the eschatological or in the eternal perspective, no one. What happens if your pastor goes to jail? What happens if you lose your job? This momentary light of affliction is working in us and for us. A weight of glory that is incomparable. So here's the assurance. Keep doing good, you might not suffer. But if you live in a wicked and perverse generation, you probably will. You will suffer not for evil in a wicked culture, you will suffer for doing the good. Peter says, and who is there to harm you? In light of eternity? In light of the sovereignty of God? in light of this inheritance that he says is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you, who by God's power are being kept through faith, for a salvation ready, same word, to be revealed in the last time? Nothing. Nothing and no one can harm you. Because God is sovereign. And because God is good. Go to Romans 8, just quickly. I know this is a familiar passage, but Familiar passages are good to be reminded of. And I think Peter is perhaps drawing from Paul. I know last week he was drawing from Romans 12. I think he might be drawing from Romans 8 in our section this morning. So remember, the little children are drawing a circle around blessing and they're wondering if that line should go to suffering. I would say yes, because in the context of Romans 8, suffering activates the spirit's eschatological groaning. Why do you use big words like that? Eschatological just means the end, the ultimate. And he makes us yearn for heaven more in suffering and in trials. You want to be spirit-filled? It's not always speaking in tongues like so many people assert. You want to be spirit-filled? You will suffer well, and you will cry out, Abba, Father. You will put to death what is earthly in you, and nothing makes you run from the world like suffering. Anyways, I'm preaching Romans 8. Look at, in verse 15, for you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and here's the verse, and if children, then heirs. That's one of Peter's favorite words in 1 Peter. An heir, or inheritance. Remember in the last section? You were called to inherit a blessing, and the Spirit says, especially in suffering for righteousness, and suffering for good, and suffering for Christ, you are sons of the Father, you cry Abba. And if you're a child of God, you're an heir. You're an heir of God and fellow heirs, or like the King James, joint heirs, inseparable heirs with Christ. Some of you who have your Bibles open know the verse ain't done yet. What does it say? Provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. And if I start boring you to death, Look at verses 18 to 22 in 1 Peter 3, where it says, how do you know that suffering can bring about God's victory, and to bring about his purposes, and to bring about ultimate good and blessing? For Christ also suffered, and he conquered through suffering, trusting in God. Suffering is not a terrible thing when viewed through the lens of God's sovereignty and goodness to his people. Verse 18, for I consider. There's lots of reckoning. Christianity is a thinking religion. Think about this. This is a reality that you need to set your minds on. If you're suffering, I need to reckon. You might see it, but you need to believe it. Reckon yourselves dead to sin, but alive to righteousness, Romans six. I don't feel it, you reckon it. Faith, it's a reality, you've died with Christ, and you've been raised to newness of life with Him. Well, here's another reckoning. It doesn't become true, this is true, and you need to believe it afresh, and you need to grind it into your mind. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Creation's groaning, and how much more we who have the Spirit, we're groaning in suffering. Keep your nose in Romans 8. We just sang it in that glorious hymn. And we know. Don't you love in Romans 8, when he says, and we feel? No, he doesn't say, and we feel. Suffering doesn't feel like God's love. And we know. That for those who love God, most things, the comfortable things, the health, wealth, prosperity things, work together for good. That's not what it says. Now, drop my mind. All things in Romans 8 include being given over to slaughter like sheep, and nakedness, and famine, and peril, and sword. all things. And we know this. Why? Because God is good and we know God is sovereign. This is the assurance that Paul gives to the believers in Rome and this is the assurance that Peter from Rome gives to the scattered saints in Asia. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are the called ones according to his purpose. What's his purpose? What's in verse 29? For those whom he foreknew these, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of a son. Hebrews 5 says that Christ and his minister was perfected through suffering. We love this language of being conformed into the image of Christ and following in his footsteps. And the disciples were ready to follow him as he's on his mule. coming into Jerusalem and the branches are all laid and strewn before him, hosanna to the son of David. Yay, let's follow him. How about following him to the cross? And it's a package deal. How about that in Romans eight though? God's purpose is that we might be conformed into the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn, the preeminent son, capital S, of all those elect that God gives to Him. That Christ might be adored and glorified insofar as we are now being conformed into the image of His Son. And the Father loves to conform us into the image of His Son, for the Father loves the Son supremely. The Father has, as it were, sanctified His Son. Verse 31, therefore, what shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? And that's what we could say Peter said in verses eight through 12. God is for you. Who can be against you? And verse 13 in 1 Peter 3 says, no one. Who can harm you? Who's against you? Nero? Liberal government? Communism? No. Not in the ultimate sense. He who did not spare his own son, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Yes, heaven, but even in this life, suffering if necessary. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? In the Greek, who shall call out his called in? No one. And Peter's audience is like, well, what if we're standing before Nero? He's laying a charge against us. And this is why Peter and Paul and the New Testament say you need to have your eschatological glasses on. In the eternal perspective, no one. He can't harm you. He cuts off your head. You get your inheritance. Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. See, that's the problem. The Christians were being slandered. And we so want to justify ourselves. We want to revile in return or do evil. And we want to say we're not guilty and we can suffer well because we know God is sovereign. God justifies. I don't justify. I'm in trouble if I do. God declares me righteous. And on that day when Christ comes with his saints to be adored, there will be a vindication of God's people. God justifies. Who is to condemn? Peter's hearers are being condemned. They're being slandered and reviled and all kinds of ill and wrongs being imputed to them. And Paul says, Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised. More than that, who is at the right hand of God, who is indeed interceding for us. Who shall separate us from God's love? Suffering won't. Neither will angels, fallen ones included, nor death, nor life, verse 39, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation. Not suffering, not persecution, not slander, not shame. Because God is good and God is sovereign, be assured, Christian, that even if you suffer for righteousness' sake, nothing will separate you from God's love or purpose, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And I think Peter's drawing from that. I'll stick my nose back to 1 Peter. Who is there to harm you if you become zealous for what is good? Answer, nobody, if you're in Christ. If you're not in Christ, the last verse of this section should terrify you. You will suffer for all of your evil. It will not be covered. You'll be naked and exposed and laid bare before Him with whom you have to do. But if you're in Christ, no ultimate harm. I think of Paul in Philippians 1. writing from one of his mansions. He's just come out of a nice little sauna session. I think I'm gonna write a letter to these people in Philippi, who themselves are prosperous and wealthy. No, no, no. They're poor. Poor as can be, 2 Corinthians 8 says. And Paul's not writing from a sauna, he's writing from a jail cell. And not like in cushy communist Canada. where he gets a nice meal and a bed. Timothy, bring me some clothes, I'm freezing, man. Bring me something to read. It's dark and it's dank and it's riddled with disease. Paul's writing from prison. He says, I've learned the secret of contentment, it's Christ. And I don't know what's gonna happen to me, he says in chapter one. Maybe I'll lose my head. But I know this will turn out for my salvation, or deliverance. Oh, you mean you're getting out of jail? Maybe that kind of deliverance. But I think Paul's thinking about deliverance no matter what. Maybe they deliver me out of jail. But if I die in jail, I receive my ultimate deliverance. For to me is living Christ, and to me dying is gain. Are you in Christ? then nothing can actually harm you in an eternal sense. And I hope you're encouraged by that, or assured. Verse 14, but even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed. The SV has you will be, most other translations just say you are, but in the Greek it just says blessed. It's almost like, and even if you suffer, wait for it, blessed, exclamation mark. It just blows your mind. What does it mean to be blessed? It means to be of that privileged class. And don't let people say privilege is this ugly word. If you're in Christ, you are the most privileged person in the world, irrespective of how big your bank account is. If you're in Christ, you are blessed and you are of the privileged upon whom God's favor now resides forever. He looks upon you and smiles. And if you're suffering for righteousness sake, Peter's probably picking up from Matthew chapter five here. And I'm so glad that in God's providence, as we do our consecutive New Testament readings, we're in the Sermon on the Mount. That wasn't planned, not by me, I'm not that clever. But you remember two weeks ago when it was read, the Beatitudes. Listen, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Remember, Peter's there. Jesus climbs up to the mountain as the new Moses, giving the new Israel, as it were, a speech reminiscent of Deuteronomy. And he gives them these Beatitudes, and the last one has to do with suffering. Perhaps that it might ring in their minds most clearly. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's the blessing. If you're suffering for righteousness sake, that's the stamp of God upon you that you belong to him. They hate Christ, they hate his image bearers. It's as simple as that. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be glad. Why? Here's the blessing. Your reward is great in heaven. See, this is what Peter's saying. Too many of us Christians are way too earthly minded to be of any earthly good. Oh, if we would be more spiritually minded, we would be of ultimate earthly good. My health could be taken tomorrow. I could have a stroke. I could die of cancer. I could die of a car accident. All the money I have, could be gone. But I put in Bitcoin. I don't have Bitcoin, but even if I did, I could crash tomorrow too. Rejoice to be glad for your reward is great in heaven. And you're in a cloud of witnesses of those who have suffered for righteousness sake. Now, let me quickly sneak in something. because it's going to be charged against churches like us that remain open, that we're suffering for foolishness sake. And people are going to say, Acts 5 says you should only suffer for preaching the gospel. Not according to Matthew 5, not according to 1 Peter 3, and not according to 2 Timothy 3. You suffer for doing what is right. And we let God define what is right. I don't let the government define for me what is right. They need to stay in their lane. I'm not gonna go there, but I don't think a lot of Christians have thought through this. Let's just do what they say. Is what they're saying right? No, then don't listen to them. But they'll persecute us. Blessed are you when you suffer and they slander you. Oh, those granny killers gathering on the Lord's day. Let them say that. Do what is right and leave the rest to God. I'm not trying to sneak it in there. Please don't hear me being the guy trying to be dirty and sneak it in. This is the conviction of the elders. We will do what is right because we know we will stand before God. Let them do what they will. We're in good company. Read the prophets. Elijah goes and rebukes Ahab. That was right. He didn't preach him the gospel. He told him that you're living in sin and what you're doing is wrong. Take a stand for abortion, see what that happens in 2021. Take a stand for biblical marriage, see what happens. That's not the gospel. It's what is right and ought to lead us to preach the gospel. So don't say the only way you should suffer is for preaching the gospel. That's part of suffering. but you're suffering for doing what is right, and what is right is defined by the word of God. So get your nose in the book and know what is right. Maybe it's not right to gather. I disagree with you. Maybe it's not right to sing together. Maybe it's not right to take the Lord's table every time we gather. But we will suffer, and people will slander and insult us, ultimately for the name of Christ. Blast! Exclamation mark. Not you will, but you are, and you ultimately will be. Blast. A little bit of a diversion, but that's okay. One word, zealot. Even if you're zealous for what is good. But it says, even if you become a zealot. That's in verse 13. Would you pray that you would become zealous for the good? You need to know what the good is. But be zealous, not indifferent. And the best illustration I saw was in 1 Corinthians 14, that the people were zealous for manifestations of the Spirit. And I remember back in the days when I was in a Pentecostal church, all people were doing, just everything's about the Spirit. And it should be for us in a sense. But have you ever been around those people? Everything's about the Spirit, everything. Be like that for the good. Be determined, intentional, and I would translate it, passionate, eager. Be zealous for the good. And if you are, don't be surprised if you suffer for righteousness sake. But if you do suffer for doing what is right, blessed. We now move from assurance to admonition. Admonition, that's the second half of verse 14. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. Or we could translate that literally, the fear of them do not fear nor be shaken. And Peter again is quoting Isaiah chapter 8. He already quoted Isaiah 8 earlier and he says now to these exiles who are suffering, don't be afraid of them. Well he's already assured us that God is good and God is sovereign. But now he's actually admonishing them to put something off and to put something on. We've done this before. Put off the fear of man, put on the fear of Christ. If God is sovereign, we shouldn't be afraid of what can man do to us. Psalm 56, I always think of Dini and I always think of my kids when I think of it. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you, in God whose promise I praise. What is the word, what is the promise? That he will keep us. He will keep us firm to the end. When I am afraid, I put my trust in you, in God whose promise I praise. What can flesh do to me? Isn't that great? Not even what can man. What can flesh do to me? And then the very last verse of Psalm 56, for you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk with God in the land of the living. He saved you from death. He's given you an inheritance and you will walk with God as you should. What can man do to you? Other than give you an early vacation if you see it that way. What can man do? Nothing. So don't be afraid. When I am afraid, put your trust in Christ. Remember that he has conquered death. He's conquered sin. He has removed judgment from you. Hebrews 2 says that he has removed this bondage that we have to the fear of death. The death of death and the death of Christ. So don't be afraid of them. nor be shaken, and I translate it shaken because of Isaiah 7. Turn there. Don't worry, we're getting there. Our good friend Ahaz, one of the most wicked, reprobate kings of the southern tribe of Judah. He says all the right things, I'm not gonna test God, and then he burns his son in the fire. And so God, who is sovereign over all things, he sent two foes, two adversaries, against the king of Judah. One of them is the king of Israel, and the other is the king of Syria. You can see that in the first couple of verses. Look at verse two, though. When the house of David was told, Syria is in league with Ephraim, the heart of Ahaz, and the heart of his people, Shook, that's the word. Do not be afraid, do not tremble, do not shake, that's the Greek word. Why are they shaking? Because they've forgotten God. Peter's admonition is, remember who God is and what he's done for you in Christ. It's really the same points. Assurance comes from knowing God is good and God is sovereign and he admonishes them to remember that God is good and God is sovereign. So here's King Ahaz and all the people, their hearts are shaking as the trees of the forest shake before the wind. Look at chapter eight. This is what Peter is quoting for us in our text this morning. Chapter 8 of Isaiah verse 11, For Yahweh spoke thus to me with his strong hand upon me, and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy. And here it is, do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him shall you sanctify. Or the ESV says, him shall you honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary, and a stone of offense, and a rock of stumbling. That's what Peter quoted earlier in chapter two. He becomes one of two things, a refuge or a stone of stumbling. If you fear man, he's a stone of stumbling. If you fear God, he is a sanctuary. Interesting in the Hebrew, the word sanctuary has the same root as the word fear. So the irony is that when you fear God, you now dwell in a place where there is no fear of man. You're in a sanctuary. Okay? And so this is what Peter is quoting. He's saying, don't be like the unbelievers and the pagans who know not God, who shake, and everything to them is a conspiracy. Try not to hear everything conspiracy theories are about. Some of them are actually right, some of them are not. But the person who thinks everything is a conspiracy, they're just so skittish, and there's no stability, and they're afraid of everything. Peter says, don't be like that. Let God be your fear, let Him be your dread. Even when they're persecuting you, even when they're slandering you, what can man do to you? Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. Put off the fear of man. Proverbs 29, 25, the fear of man lays what? A snare. Anyone know the anti-parallelism of that verse, right? So the fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in Yahweh finds safety. The Hebrew word is to be on a stronghold in the mountains. You're untouchable. So Isaiah says, all these people, everything they hear is making them skittish, and they're troubled and shaken, because everything's a conspiracy. Everyone's out to get me. If you have a high view of the High God, the Most High, then everything is working together for good, and you don't need to ultimately fear it. So you can just do what He's called you to do. Trust Him, and tell others of His excellencies. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled. Put off. Verse 15, put on. But instead, Lord is the first word in Greek, and therefore it's the most important word in this verse. Underline it. Don't be fearful of man, fear Christ as the true Lord. Remember that in Rome, if you wanted to fit in, if you wanted to go to the best universities, if you wanted to keep your job, if you wanted good social credit, you would say that Caesar is Lord. And if you're one of those pesky Christians that has the audacity to say that Iesu curia, Jesus is Lord, you might lose it all. And what Peter is saying is remember that Christ, yes, he is Yahweh, right? He's using this word Lord. Yes, he is Yahweh of Isaiah 7, but he's also the sovereign one who rules over Caesar and whoever wins the election. in a couple of weeks. Peace, Lord. All of the pagans, they sprinkle and they bow their knee to this earthly Lord. Like pecca in Isaiah 7, or resin of Isaiah 7. And they're smoldering, burnt out branches that are brittle and will soon be blown away in the wind. The pagans, they give homage to Caesar and it instructs how they live. Not so with you. You wanna live rightly in a world that hates Christ? Sanctify him. Or, I like the ESV, honor him as holy. What does holy mean? He's different, he's set apart, he's unique, he's untouchable. He's the holy one of Israel. He's not like the gods of the nations. He's not like the rulers of the earth. And so this is how you live rightly. Maybe Christ returns tonight or tomorrow. If he does, I hope this is the message that sticks with you. You wanna live rightly? This is what you need to put on daily. In your mind, and especially, he says, in your hearts. Sanctify, that's the word. Sanctify Christ as Lord. He's the master. This will instruct your decisions. If Caesar is Lord, you will do what Caesar says, because you're afraid of what Caesar will do. If you sanctify, if you revere, regard, honor Christ alone as Holy, the Holy One, how differently will your decisions be? I might lose my job. Sanctify Christ as Holy. Sanctify Him as Lord. They might say something mean, my family might disown me. That's what the people in First Peter are dealing with. This is what it means to live the Christian life. Not fearing man, but fearing Christ in your hearts. We're gonna get to speaking with our lips, but notice what happens first. Before you tell others of Christ with your lips, you must first invade your hearts. You'll never tell people anything you're not passionate about. So this just comes to my mind. So this was like three weeks ago. We're at the farmer's market and we meet Caitlin. And she was with Annika, I think. And I was just on cloud nine. And you're going to see just how petty I am. I had four bottles of hot sauce, pumpkin hot sauce, habanero, all these hot sauces. And I was like, check this out, Caitlin. This is great. And she went home after and she told Charles. She's like, I really didn't care. And I really couldn't be as excited as he was. Just track with me. I was excited about hot sauce. And I told Caitlin whether she wanted to hear it or not. Why? Because hot sauce is in my heart. And therefore it's on my lips. And I want it to be on my lips. But that's how it is with Christ. Set Him apart. Maybe you need to write this verse on the doors you're leaving out. Oh Lord, may all my decisions today flow out of this setting you apart. You will not sin. If Christ is Lord, then sin will not be. Actually, I got a really good quote from a commentator In John Oswalt, in the book of Isaiah, he says this. Oh, where is it? He says here, the general sense of Isaiah 7 and 8 is this. Give attention first to God, not to human affairs. Now, I'm not saying quit your job. I'm not saying all that. But let God be preeminent. Let Christ be preeminent in all your decisions. And who cares if you know that God in Christ is smiling on you? As the Puritan said, let the world frown. Or as we sang, let the world disown, let them forsake me. They have left my Savior too. That's okay. If the world rejects me, but Christ is my Lord, that's okay. God and heaven are still my own. He goes on to say, To not do so is to invite paranoia. That's his translation on the word conspiracies. There's a lot of paranoid Christians. You know what the antidote to paranoia is? A robust focus on Christ as Lord. He conquered death. We'll see that in the next section. To sanctify God is to make him the most significant fact of one's essence, demonstrating by their attitudes and behavior that he indeed is the Holy One of Israel." Well I thought that was good. So he's given us assurance, his admonition is put off the fear of man, put on the fear of God, And that's by sanctifying or setting apart, regarding as holy Christ, the Lord or Christ, I would translate as Lord. That's the confession upon baptism in Romans 10. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and you don't just do it at baptism, you do it every day. Confess Him. He is Lord. Always being prepared. to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason of the hope that is in you. Remember the context of fear. Remember the context of persecution and slander and reviling. The Greek is actually accusing the Christians of being evildoers. But as you're setting Christ apart in your heart, in your affections and in your mind and in your will, you will begin to speak with others, that you do what is right, even if you suffer because of the hope that you have. Did you notice that? He says, give a reasonable defense of your hope. Not your faith, but of your hope. And what is your hope? Christ is risen. We've been born again to a living hope, through what? Not doctrine, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He's gonna say it again in chapter four. Always being prepared. If you love Christ and you're constantly setting him apart, you will be prepared. You can take apologetics courses, those are great. But I think if you really want to be prepared to share the gospel with others, it's just to love Christ supremely above all other things. The words will come. And if they don't, the desire to get to know him more through the word, will come. So we've been doing evangelism in Sunday school for like probably seems to me like 15 years. I'm still very discouraged when so few people come out. And what people need not is, what are the eight steps, or what are the six ways to seal the deal? Everyone's taking apologetics courses, and it hit me yesterday. Ryan, if you want a church that is reaching out to the nations with the gospel of Christ, even in the face of severe persecution, get them to be absolutely ravished by Christ's beauty. You'll leave here telling everybody about Christ. I don't know what the eight points pastor talked about. I love Christ and you need him. He is my Lord and I will proclaim his excellencies. Then you will be prepared. Just like I was prepared, right? I wasn't like, oh, there's Caitlin there. I need like 18 steps to how can I tell her about hot sauce is awesome. Or, right, I think of Nathan when he met Hannah. Now I wasn't there, but this is me sort of just reading back. Nathan was probably always ready. Why do you want to marry that girl? He's got 15, because he's been thinking about her nonstop. To make a defense, that's the word apologia. That's where you get apologetics from. It's not apologizing, I'm sorry Jesus is so holy. No, it's a defense, right? It's giving a word back to those who accuse you. And that will happen, maybe in the courts, Maybe at the water cooler. Always be prepared to give, the ESV says, a defense. To make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. And it's not just the hope that is in Ryan, it's in the hope that is in the church. Among you, you could translate it. Why are you Christians so different? Right? I'm different as a pastor, but why are you Christians all together so different? Because Christ is in us the hope of? Glory. We have a joy that is inexpressible. Glorified. Our hope is in glory. The new heavens, the new earth. That's my hope. And it's as secure for me as Christ is in heaven. It's glorious. You can take everything. You can't take Jesus. That's my hope. That's our hope. People will ask you for this reason if you live by hope. If we're no different from the world, they're not going to ask us. They're not going to ask us for a reason of the hope. Because they got the same hope! If we're hoping in money, I'm not against money or retirement. Please don't hear that. I'm not against football. Well, I am now because it's all woke. But if our hope and our passions and our future is the same as the world, they're not going to ask us. They're just the weird people that go to church now and then on a Sunday, but they're really just like us. No, we take a stand for what is right. And even if they take everything from us, we will sanctify Christ as holy in our hearts. How do we do it? Quickly, quickly, quickly, with a God-centered view of who He is and who they are. ESV just says, with gentleness and respect. We've seen already these words are ultimately used in the context of God. Why should I be humble? Because God is holy. If I have an awareness of who God is and that he sees how I'm representing him, I will be humble and respectful. The word is fear. Don't fear what they fear. Share the gospel with fear. Not fear of man, fear of God. Respectful is a good translation, but fear is better. Why? Because it's God-centered. If you're so overwhelmed with God's presence and his majesty and his worth and his honor, you're not gonna be a fool trash-talking people who disagree with you. And I've been guilty of this. And so what is the antidote? Ryan, dwell in the presence of Christ. Meditate in his goodness. And I tell you what, and I share the gospel, I will do so gently and respectfully because I fear God. 16, having a good conscience. What's the good conscience? That your life is backing it up. You have a good conscience because you're being persecuted, not for being a fool, but for good conduct. That's in the verse. You have a good conduct, a good conscience. You know that you're not being attacked because you were a jerk on Facebook. You're being attacked because the darkness hates the light. You have a good conscience because even in suffering, says Paul, is a sign that you belong to God. That's Philippians 1.28. So that when, or I would translate that in the thing you are slandered. What's the thing? I don't know. Maybe it's our stand on marriage, biblical marriage. Maybe it's our stand against those who murder babies or image bearers in the womb. Maybe it's our stand for the supremacy of Christ as Lord of His church. I don't know what the thing is that will be slandered. When is good, but in the thing you are slandered, you can have a good con chiss if you are doing so with Christ as Lord gently and respectfully. Verse 17, for, for it is better to suffer for doing good if that should be God's will, then for doing evil. So there's two ways to translate it, and I'm gonna give you the second way for time's sake. I think Peter's talking about those who suffer in this life for Christ, for righteousness' sake, versus those who suffer in eternity for evil, because they're outside of Christ. Again, it's the perspective. You might suffer maybe 20 or 30 or 40 or 60 years, and maybe it's just a plaguing trial. Okay, let's apply this even outside of persecution. This trial, says Paul, this persecution is preparing you for, and preparing for you, an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. As you look, not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are unseen are eternal. That's what God's doing. He's reminding you that even if you suffer for Christ in this world, you can say, praise God, that for ages of ages, the hell I deserve was imputed upon Christ on the cross, and I'm no longer condemned, and I'm no longer going to be one who's going to suffer under the wrath of God. Just a perspective, a right perspective. Peter is linking blessing with suffering. It's not as bad as we think. He gives us an assurance. God is good, God is sovereign. His admonition is, put off the fear of man, put on the fear of Christ. And as we do so, people will ask us for our hope when we do good and suffer for doing good. And oh, that we would be able to give them a reasonable explanation of the hope that we have as Christians. Can you do that? Can I encourage you? This is what we do. So we have people who are gonna be getting baptized soon and lots of people seeking membership. One of the questions the elders ask is what is the gospel? What is your hope? And I would encourage us as Christians to have that ready on our tongues to tell people, here is my hope. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Well, let's pray, and then we will close with a song. Father, we want to thank you for your goodness to us in Christ. We're so thankful that, as Whitefield once said, we are invincible until your purposes for us are done. Would you help us to rest in your sovereignty? May it be the pillow upon which we lay our heads. May it be that stream that flows from the midst of Zion Would we be still and know that you are God, that you will be exalted among the nations, you will be exalted in the earth? And help us, Lord, not just to have this disconnected view of a sovereign God who does not care for us, help us rather to see that the sovereign God of the universe loves us in Christ, and no one can condemn us, no one can separate us from your love. Lord, all must work for good. for us in Christ. Lord, I pray that you would help us to be a city on a hill. Help us to be salt reaching out into a hopeless world. Caesar is not hope. A recovered economy is not lasting hope. Going back to the way things were is a futile hope. Oh Father, that we would preach our living hope in Christ. Would you help us to live in such a way that people ask us for a reason for our hope. Lord, would you make us a gentle church, respectful, because we have sanctified Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts. Lord, we love you and we thank you. Please just use your word to save your elect, and to equip the elect, and to give assurance to the elect, and to admonish the elect. But use it, Lord, to conform us into the image of Christ. And Father, if trials come, Help us to view them rightly. In Christ we ask in His name. Amen. If you're able, please stand. We're going to sing one final song. When the peace like a river has ended my way When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Oh, Satan should bother him, no trial should come when his blessed assurance controls. ♪ That Christ has regarded my helpless estate ♪ ♪ And has shed his own blood for my soul ♪ ♪ It is well, it is well ♪ In my soul, in my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. of this glorious cause, my sin not in part, but the whole. and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. O Lord, haste the day when my pain shall be sighed. The clouds we roll back as a scroll. The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall be said. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. with our souls, no matter what you bring our way. Dismiss us with your blessing. Father, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. You are dismissed. Yeah.